Graduate Students’ Union Withdraws Unfair Labor Practice Charge Alleging Encampment Surveillance

Harvard’s graduate student union withdrew a labor complaint that accused the University of violating workers’ rights during the spring pro-Palestine encampment last month, citing concerns about changes to the U.S. labor board under the Trump administration.

The Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers dropped the Unfair Labor Practice charge it filed in May — which alleged that Harvard illegally surveilled workers during the encampment and denied them access to union representation during disciplinary hearings — on Jan. 10, in advance of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The National Labor Relations Board formally approved the withdrawal on Monday.

According to HGSU-UAW trustee Sudipta Saha, the union was concerned that the administration’s “radical rebating of various federal institutions” would take advantage of the complaint to roll back additional labor protections.

“We just don’t know if they might be pulling out long-held labor rights that NLRB has historically protected,” Saha said. “And so out of an abundance of caution, we didn’t want to bring some of these questions in front of the board.”

Just a week into his term, Trump dismissed NLRB board member Gwynne Wilcox and the board’s general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo — an unprecedented challenge to the board’s independent authority. The firings also left the board without a quorum, making it unable to issue rulings.

“Right now, the NLRB is essentially paralyzed,” Saha said.

Union officials also said the complaint addressed time-sensitive issues, including Harvard’s decision to briefly place encampment participants on involuntary leave, which had already been settled.

The charge was filed one day after protesters agreed to end their 20-day encampment in Harvard Yard. According to Saha, at least 15 members of the graduate student union, which represents roughly 5,000 teaching and research assistants, were affected by disciplinary action.

Referencing an earlier statement on the case, Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote that “the University does not believe participating in the encampment occupation that occurred in Harvard Yard is related to student worker working conditions, and as such is not a protected activity under the NLRA or the parties’ collective bargaining agreement.”

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.
—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.